The Snowball Effect
by Kid and Soul's Girls
Summary: Short little fic about how Mello gets Matt to like the outdoors. Rated K plus cuz I'm paranoid...


Matt hated the outdoors. He thought that much was obvious, and yet Mello still insisted on dragging him anywhere the blonde needed to go. As ex-Wammy's House residents, the two had always been close-or as close as Mello would allow them to get. To anyone else, it would seem that Matt had no reason to follow someone like that-pigheaded, ambitious, and dangerous-but none of that mattered to him. He remained loyal because he considered the chocolate-loving male his best and only real friend, and he was in a position where his talents could be valued and used to the best. Or, that's what he told himself.

The brunette shivered as the December breeze blew a few flakes of snow into his face, where they stuck to the orange goggles over his eyes. Reaching up he brushed them off in irritation. Why did it have to be so cold? Even the scalding hot cup of coffee in his left hand did nothing to help. 'Stupid weather. Stupid outside. Stupid Mello...'

"Are you just going to stand there and freeze to the concrete or are you planning on moving any time soon?" Blinking, Matt's eyes focused on the blonde about ten feet ahead of him. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his red jacket, and his blue orbs were narrowed.

"I'm coming," was the muttered response. This was so ridiculous. Why were they tramping through the snow and slush again? Oh, right... One of Mello's 'followers' was in town, and they'd met roughly an hour before to discuss... Well, Matt wasn't sure. He'd paid too little attention in his irritation-he'd succumbed to playing Tetris on his phone. Desperate times called for desperate measures. From what he'd gathered, the man had claimed to have knowledge of a possible third Kira, and apparently Mello had found this to be a complete lie. It was a sad day when the highlight of the morning was watching Mello beat the snot out of a six foot tall military guy.

Honestly, Matt just wanted to get back to the house and busy himself with some Halo.

Around fifteen minutes of walking later (his toes were completely numb) the one-floor house came into view up the road. Recently, Mello had decided that it would be for the better if there weren't so many people in one location-it would be too easy to find them.

No later had the key clicked in the lock than he found the sanctuary of his bedroom and every gaming system in existence. He immersed himself in the graphics and gunfire until the sun moved out of his window and the room began to darken somewhat-afternoon. Unwillingly he set the controller down, but only because his stomach was now protesting and he'd finished the now empty bag of chips a while ago.

Venturing down the hall and into the kitchen, he dug in the fridge for whatever he could find to make a sandwich; the easier, the better, and the quicker he could get back in the zone. He settled for ham and cheese, so within thirty seconds he was shoving the bread and meat in his mouth and cracking the top on a Coke can. The house was quiet, which was highly unusual since Mello always seemed to be yelling at something or someone (if he was taking a call). Actually, quiet wasn't even a good word. Quiet was at nighttime when the volume on his game was down and he could hear his friend snoring up the hall. This was dead silence. Something wasn't right.

Just then something sort of hard and very cold collided with the back of his head, sending brief shocks of pain and shivers through his body. He spun, ready to fight whoever it was that was assaulting him, only to find Mello leaning in the kitchen doorway, biting off the end of a chocolate bar. His brain didn't register what had happened by the blank look on his friend's face until Matt's gaze drifted to the floor. A broken pile of snow laid at his feet, already starting to melt around the edges. His back arched slightly as a droplet of the freezing liquid ran under his shirt between his shoulder blades.

"MELL-"

WHAM. Another snowball hit him straight in the face, and he managed to close his eyes just in time. By the time he recovered, there was no trace of the other male. Immediately he raced to the back porch, snatching his jacket from the back of the couch on the way past.

The sky had started to clear up, and the now few were lit up with shades of orange, pink and violet, settling on the treetops in a fiery sight. His gaze swept across the yard, just in time to dodge another shot behind the railing.

"Mello I swear to God!" Scooping up a fistful of the white stuff, he packed it just enough to sling it toward the woods, where it smacked against his friend with a pleasing thud. Both of them froze and stares at each other. Matt wasn't sure what his own face looked like, but Mello's was so twisted in surprise that he could help but to laugh. Really hard. So hard, in fact, that he didn't notice where the blonde had thrown a rock until a mound of snow plummeted from the pine above his head onto him.

Scowling, he shook as much of it off as he could before jumping over the rail and chasing Mello. The whole situation made him feel like he was three years old, but at the moment he didn't care. He don't care that he was outside. He didn't care that he was actually running. He didn't care that it was freezing. Heck, he didn't even care that his fingers were tingling from where he touched the snow-the only thing that mattered was catching up to the moron who'd caught him off guard.

Then he saw his chance: Mello had to skid to slow down around the corner of the house, and Matt dove, just missing his jacket, but quick enough to grab his ankle and yank him to the ground. Feeling triumphant, he scrambled to shovel as much of the snow as he could manage into Mello's good before pushing it over his head. Sitting back on his butt, he laughed once again as his friend sat up with a half-irritated, half-amused expression.

"Think this is funny do you?" He growled challengingly.

The next hour they spent tackling each other into the snow repeatedly; maybe it was their lack of a real childhood, but for once it didn't matter to with of them that they were close to twenty years old or that the ten year-olds next door were doing much the same thing. By the time they were both out of breath, Matt had a bruise on his ribs from tripping over a log just outside the woods, and one on his arm from smacking his wrist on a rock when he'd once again hit the ground.

Orange and pink were quickly fading into blue and black as they say comfortably in each other's presence, no longer trying to outdo the other, if only for the moment. The brunette think of another time where he'd had so much fun and when he had care so little about the outside world.

Matt glanced over to his friend, who currently had his hands behind his head and was staring blankly at the sky as clouds moved overhead. He looked so peaceful for once, and Matt felt happiness bubble in his stomach.

"This is so nice... For once, we're not worried about work, about anything..." He didn't dare mention Near. "I never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad to be outside. I guess it's not all that bad... There are good things too." He paused, contemplating his next words. "Thanks, this meant a lot to me."

"Hey Matt?" Blue eyes drifted sideways to meet green ones, and a shudder ran up the spine of the latters' owner.

"Yeah Mello?" How there was no waver in his voice, Matt would never know.

Flashing a brief grin, his friend replied, "Shut up."


End file.
